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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29377215">Close Your Eyes (It's like I Never Left You)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerRaine14/pseuds/SummerRaine14'>SummerRaine14</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Future Bughead [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Riverdale (TV 2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Betty Cooper Loves Jughead Jones, Bughead reunion, Communication, F/M, Heavy Angst, Jughead Jones Loves Betty Cooper, Light Smut, POV Jughead Jones, Reunion Sex, its just another stupid kiss, mentions of the b/a kiss, oh yeah! in my world</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:28:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,113</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29377215</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerRaine14/pseuds/SummerRaine14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He was planning to leave Riverdale, and this time for good. </p>
<p>But when Betty shows up at Jughead’s hotel as he finishes packing his bags, will she be able to make him stay?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Future Bughead [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1029023</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Close Your Eyes (It's like I Never Left You)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi, fellow buggies! </p>
<p>It's me, Summer, and I'm back with another reunion fic. This time though, there's mega angst, some light smut, and a lot of communication.</p>
<p>I hope you enjoy it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Veronica broke the news that Betty and Archie had kissed <em> again, </em>I knew I couldn't stay in Riverdale. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It didn't matter to me that it'd been seven years since we had broken up. Because the very thing that remained a wedge between us back then was happening all over again. I'd confided in Betty about my deepest fear, and now that reality was setting in, I didn't want to be here to face it. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maybe some people were okay with being a second choice, someone to slum it with, to take whatever they could get from the person they loved, but I wasn't. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>If Betty had gone on and loved someone new, I know I would've been heartbroken, but this-Betty and Archie-was a pain I couldn't explain. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was my confirmation that Jones men didn't get to love the girl next door. The Viper King would never end up with the Homecoming Queen. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>So here I was, packing up the few belongings I brought back to Riverdale with me and preparing to leave. Once again knowing that I'd never get the chance to hold, kiss, or love Betty Cooper again. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>And then, as I opened the door to my hotel room, bag slung over my shoulder...there she was. With puffy red cheeks and tear strung eyes, Betty stood in front of me looking as beautiful as ever. A sight for sore eyes, as she'd always been. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>But even though I wanted to drop my bag, wrap my arms around her, and ask her why she was crying...I knew I couldn't. Because giving her another piece of my heart would only break <em> me </em>more. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I looked away, desperately trying not to get lost in the green of her pain-filled eyes, and it was when her hand caressed my cheek that I found the courage I needed to back away from her. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I pushed her hand down, my eyes still avoiding her, "Do not touch me, Betty." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It seemed my warning didn't matter because as soon she noticed the bag on my shoulder, Betty pushed her way into the hotel and shut the door behind her. "You...you can't leave, Jughead." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You're telling me what I can do now?" I almost laughed. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Who did she think she was? All these years and time apart, broken promises and betrayals, but I still come home to help Archie. Only to find out she was here to do far more than help him. Betty had the nerve to tell me what I could and couldn't do? </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"No. God, Jug. I didn't come here to fight with you. Veronica told me-"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Stop. Whatever you're going to say, stop. You don't owe me an explanation, it's always been Archie. I don't need to hear you say it."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"This isn't about him. It was one kiss! One stupid kiss." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tears were rolling down her cheeks again, and I wanted to wipe them away. God, how I wanted to comfort her now, but I was angry. "One kiss? Like it was seven years ago, and two years before that with the Black Hood. It's always one kiss after another with you two, Betty. I trusted you the first time you told me it was nothing, and I trusted you not to do it again. But you did, <em> twice </em>." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"But it didn't mean anything! It didn't seven years ago, and it didn't last night. I...I was confused. Every time, I was confused. I thought-" </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I'm going to stop this before you say anything else. I don't care what you thought, Betty, because I've trusted you, defended you, and loved you...but I can't do it anymore. I came back to help, because, despite everything that he, and you, have done, I wanted to do the right thing. But I am not going to force myself to watch you two together for the sake of a town that was never really my home. Now, move, please. I have to get going." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She moved out of my way, or maybe I pushed by her; it had all become blurry at this point. But then she grabbed my arm and turned me around, our bodies closer than they had been in years. I could feel her heart beating, as I was sure she could feel mine, and for a second, I didn't want to leave this comfort of Betty's touch. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Did you mean what you wrote about me? In your book?" Her grip has loosened, she moved her hand from my wrist to my own, our fingers gently dangling with each others. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You read my book?" </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Of course I did. I...signed up for updates under a fake username." Betty's laugh was soft, but God, it was beautiful. "You hadn't released a second novel, and I wondered if...if there was someone else you were falling in love with. Someone else you would eventually release a book about." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"That... isn't fair, Betty." I pulled my hand away, immediately missing the warmth she brought to my body, to my heart. "You can't have expected me to be waiting for you all of these years. Not when we ended how we did." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I was waiting for you, Jug! Don't you get it? After I told you...we never talked about it. There was no conversation about how you felt. It was like we said I love you and goodbye in the same sentence, and that was it." Betty finally wiped away those tears of hers, and our eyes met. As much as I wish I didn't, I saw the truth that was in them. Even if I couldn't bring myself to believe her, she meant every word she said. "I wanted to give you space, and I wanted you to come to me when you were ready. Because I understood what I did...kissing him, I didn't deserve your forgiveness then. So, I waited, and when we all came home...I could see how angry you still were, I could feel that resentment, and I realized you still weren't ready to forgive me." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"So what, you kissed him again? You thought that doing the very thing which broke my heart would make me forgive you now? It doesn't make sense, Betty. So just...if I was always your second choice until you could have him, then be upfront about it. I'm growing weary of this back and forth because when you lie to me, you're also lying to yourself. No matter how I feel, you deserve better than that." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"No, you...you deserve better than me. Because you were never my second choice, Jug, he was. The kiss last night wasn't because I wanted him; it was because I couldn't have <em>you</em>. I acted out, and I fucked up because, for some reason, I still tend to self destruct. But...it has always been you. Long before you crawled into my bedroom window and kissed me, I know that none of this is fair to say, but I don't remember a day gone by in the last seven years that I haven't waited for you to call me. To forgive me and to tell me that you love me, too." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Of course I love you, Betty. That...is the one thing that will never change. I meant it then, and I mean it now. But you knew, you <em> knew </em>how I felt about coming second to Archie. Confused or not, you didn't only cheat on me with a man I'd always felt inferior to, but with my supposed best friend. And then, to top it off, you kept it from me for weeks. I couldn't talk about it then because I couldn't trust a word you'd say." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I am not the girl I was then, and I can promise you that." She reached for my face again, and this time, I didn't pull away. I softened under her touch, and for a moment, all of that pain had been washed away. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>For a moment, it was everything I had always wanted. It was just Betty and me.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She leaned in, and the gentle graze of her lips against mine was what finally did me in. I dropped the bag from my shoulder and wrapped my arms around her. It all came so easily to us, and our bodies moved in perfect sync as if nothing had changed over the last seven years. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>But so many things <em> did </em>change, and that was what made this so worthwhile. I'd waited for her, as she had waited for me, and finally, we were together again. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Betty pushed my jacket off, and I tugged at the hem of her sweater before breaking our kiss to pull it over her head. My hands found their home roaming over her soft skin, feeling every goosebump I left behind as I unclasped her bra, and she fought with the buckle of my jeans. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>We kicked away at the clothes scattered at our feet and stumbled over to the bed. Betty laid under me, and I took a moment to brush her hair out of her face. It had grown so long since I last saw her. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I love your hair down, Betty. Fuck, I love you." My words muffled as I rested my head in her neck, kissing, nibbling, sucking on the skin, and leaving behind marks that proved she was mine. Finally, Betty was mine, and she knew I was hers.   </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She pushed me back gently, her hands tracing the tattoo on my chest before she leaned in and laid kisses across the design. "I love you, Jughead." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I moved my hand from her waist to between her thighs, pushing her panties' material to the side and sliding my fingers over her wet folds. Betty's moan brought a grin to my face, and I couldn't help but kiss her again. Her taste intoxicated me, and everything that brought us to this moment didn't matter anymore. I slipped two fingers inside of her, pumping them slowly and watching her face for every reaction she had. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Our moans echoed against the walls, and it wasn't long before Betty was pulling at my wrist, her legs squirming and a cry of pleasure falling from her lips. When I pulled my hand out, she brought it to her mouth and licked the taste of herself off my fingers. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She tugged at the waist of my boxers, impatiently begging for me. "I need you, Jug. Please."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Betty...I don't...I don't have a condom." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>There was a pause, and I wondered if this would be it. If, after all these years waiting for her, we would have to wait longer. But then she pushed me up and pulled my boxers down, "I'm on the pill..and I'm clean." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I believed her, I trusted her, and fuck, I needed her just as much as she needed me. I kicked my boxers off and then pulled her panties down. My tip teased her soaked entrance, moans and groans escaping us both as I thrust into her. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>All of that anger I'd felt only a bit ago was washed away, and what remained is what had been under the surface all along. Need, desire, and love. There had always been so much love between us, regardless of everything else. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Nothing had ever lived up to being with Betty, and this proved that once again. She caused my body to fill with heat in ways only she could, and it was her touch that left me trembling. I lost myself in the way her desperate touch fired up my skin, but it was when I pressed my forehead to hers, and she began to cry, that we both understood how much it meant to have each other again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I kissed Betty's tears away, her nails digging into my back as an incoherent string of curses fell from my lips. I pulled out of her and rolled onto my back, and she followed, our bodies entangled in one another while I once again became lost in her eyes. But more, I became lost in her vulnerability and honesty that only I was ever lucky enough to experience. Things between us didn't always make sense, and for a while, they didn't even feel right. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>But here, with all of our feelings on the table, for the first time in a long time, I felt hope. We had been lucky enough to find each other in the madness of our pain years ago, and now, we have found each other again. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was with Betty in my arms and her soft whispers of love that we fell asleep, safe and at peace. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>As always, come find me over on Tumblr @srainebuggie, and let me know your thoughts!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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